1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a medium transport device and recording apparatus that is provided with the medium transport device.
In the present application, a recording apparatus includes kinds such as ink jet printers, line printers, copy machines and facsimiles.
2. Related Art
In ink jet printers of the related art, a medium is transported from a medium accommodation cassette, which is attached to a printer main body in a detachable manner, to a position that is opposite to a recording head, and recording is executed on the medium at the position that is opposite to the recording head. Among ink jet printers, other than the medium accommodation cassette, there are printers that are provided with a medium accommodation tray above a back surface side of the printer main body (refer to JP-A-10-129860), and there are printers that are provided with a manual insertion pathway that supplies a medium to the printer one sheet at a time, and transports the medium to a position that is opposite to the recording head (refer to JP-A-2001-122528).
The recording apparatus that is disclosed in JP-A-10-129860 is configured to be provided with an auto-sheet feeder (ASF), which is a first sheet supporting means that is disposed above a rear portion of an apparatus main body, and a sheet cassette, which is a second sheet supporting means that is disposed below the front of the apparatus main body. In the recording apparatus, sheets (media) that are supported by the first sheet supporting means pass through a first sheet feeding route that is provided inside the apparatus main body, and are transported to a position that is opposite to the recording head through a common transport route that is positioned on an upstream side of the recording head in a sheet transport direction. In addition, sheets that are supported by the second sheet supporting means pass through a second sheet feeding route that is provided inside the apparatus main body, and are transported to a position that is opposite to the recording head through the common transport route that is positioned on an upstream side of the recording head in a sheet transport direction.
In the recording apparatus, in addition to the common transport route being formed inside the apparatus main body, the sheet feeding routes (the first sheet feeding route and the second sheet feeding route) are respectively formed in the first sheet supporting means that supplies sheets from an upper side with respect to the common transport route and the second sheet supporting means that supplies sheets from a lower side with respect to the common transport route. Therefore, inside the apparatus main body, the common transport route, the first sheet feeding route and the second sheet feeding route are provided separately, and there is a concern that the amount of space that the sheet feeding routes occupy in the recording apparatus may increase, and that the size of the recording apparatus may be increased as a result.
In addition, the recording apparatus that is disclosed in JP-A-2001-122528 is configured to be provided with an auto-sheet feeder (ASF), which is disposed above a rear portion of an apparatus main body, a cassette, which is a feeding unit that is disposed below the front of the apparatus main body, a manual insertion feeding opening that is disposed in a rear portion of the apparatus main body, an image processing unit that forms images on a medium, and a transport roller that transports sheets (media) that are supplied from the auto-sheet feeder, the cassette and the manual insertion feeding opening to the image processing unit using the outer peripheral surfaces thereof.
In the recording apparatus, the transport roller configures an upper transport route and a lower transport route. Sheets that are supported by the cassette are transported along the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller after being delivered from the cassette, and are transported to the image processing unit through the upper transport route. In addition, sheets that are supported by the auto-sheet feeder are transported to the image processing unit through the upper transport route. On the other hand, sheets that are supplied from the manual insertion feeding opening are transported to the image processing unit through the lower transport route using the transport roller, which rotates in a direction that is opposite to the direction of rotation during transport of sheets that are supported by the cassette and sheets that are supported by the auto-sheet feeder.
In addition, in the recording apparatus, sheets that are supported by the cassette and sheets that are supported by the auto-sheet feeder are transported to an upper position of the upper transport route that is positioned above the transport roller. In addition, sheets that are supplied from the manual insertion feeding opening are transported to a lower position of the lower transport route that is positioned below the transport roller. Further, the image processing unit is configured to be capable of swinging between the upper position and the lower position.
Therefore, in the recording apparatus, since a plurality of pathways that transport media to the image processing unit are formed in the transport pathway that has a plurality of sheet feeding pathways, the configuration of the transport pathway is complicated. As a result of this, there is a concern that the amount of space that the transport pathway occupies in the recording apparatus may increase, and that the size of the recording apparatus may be increased as a result.